With a Kiss I Die (2018) Movie Script

[woman] In my lifetime, I've only fallen in love twice. The first time led to betrayal, murder and suicide. The second time was three days ago. And meeting her would prove far more tragic. Where's my Romeo? What's here? Poison, I see, has been his timeless end. O' churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after. Thy lips are warm. O' happy dagger, there rust and let me die! [cell phone rings] Hey, can you hear me? Yeah, the convention's going great. San Francisco? It's good. Chilly, but nice. Hey, I gotta go. They're calling us back in. Love you too. [man] Hi there. What are you listening to? Nothing, actually. I just put these on hoping it will deter people like you from talking to me. You're so funny. Am I? You know, just... I just saw you there sitting alone and I think, - "Oh my god you're s..." - Beautiful. Oh yes, but not just beautiful. - You know, I think it's like... - Love at first sight. Exactly. How do you know it was love, and not just a chemical response in the brain caused by erotic stimuli? After all, the only difference between love and lust, is that the first one requires the intent of being with one, and only one, significant other. So unless you're gonna drop down on one knee and pledge your everlasting love to me, do me the honor of fucking off. Bitch. Why are you following me? Sorry, I have a message from Father. [in foreign language] Rough day? You could say that. I hope you didn't finish that whole bottle by yourself. Hmph. This one still has a little bit left. I get the sense that you don't want company right now, but... leaving you drunk on the edge of a perilous cliff doesn't seem like the best idea. Fine. You stay. I'll go. Amaltheo! Who's Amaltheo? God damn it, where are you?! - I'll get you some water. - I don't need any fucking water. [grunts] Don't look at me like that. Like what? Like you care. [retching] - Here, I'll get your hair... - [gasps] Shit! I'll call an ambulance! [shrieks] - Who are you? - Who are you? - I'm her nurse. - Okay well, she needs help. She's vomiting blood and she's super drunk. - I'll take care of it. - Take care of it? I said I'll take care of it. And don't ever come back. It's okay, agape mou. Everything is going to be okay. - Where were you? - Looking for you. You've never missed a sunset before. [coughs] He knows. Who knows? Father. He knows where Romeo's buried. That's nonsense, my dear. He's just trying to rile you up. This is the ring I told you about. The one I gave him on our wedding night. My promise that I would be his forever. Let's not talk about it now, my dear. We need to clean you up and get you feeling better first. [knock on door] Hello? Hello? [gasps] What are you doing here? I'm sorry. I knocked. I know. Not answering felt like a hint. You're okay. Yes, I'm fine. You were vomiting blood. Blood? I was drinking red wine all night. What happened to him? He cut himself on glass. He looks sick. And you thought I was vomiting blood, so maybe medicine isn't your forte. Well, I'm glad you're okay. Thank you. For checking in. Farryn. My name's Farryn. Juliet. Hi, Juliet. You need to leave. Huh. For 10 seconds there you were almost likable. [door slams shut] You told her your name. What's in a name? In your case, everything. She knows more than she should. Perhaps it is fate handing you a gift. The girl is traveling alone. Someone helps me home and you want me to take her life? I want you to be with the man you love. If I complete the transformation, like Father wants, I could lose my humanity, my capacity to love. Your love for Romeo hasn't dwindled for eight centuries. Completing the transformation didn't cause your father, or cousin, or any of them to stop loving. They just never knew how to love in the first place. You can't give up hope. Loving someone means doing everything that you can to be with that person. [man] I see you're still reading fantasy. I don't remember inviting you. Since when does family need an invitation, Cousin? Since they're not really family, Cousin. Blood is blood, Cousin. Father requests your presence. Since when does Father request? Then consider it a demand. He won't allow you to say 'no' this time. Then I'll have to think of another way of telling him, perhaps a hand gesture. I have just the finger in mind. I will relish the moment when Father finally allows me to rip that smug smile off your face. Thank you for the message, Cousin. You make a marvelous errand boy. Give my regards to the family, or what's left of them. [whistling] Read your future in the coffee grinds? No thank you. The future is nothing to fear. Why is it a pretty girl like you here all alone? I was hoping you could tell me that. I don't tell things you already know. Fate has already chosen your future, but the way you get there will be as interesting as the ending. There is a line going all the way around from past to future, from good to bad, that's very rare... Sorry, do you mind if we stop? But we're almost done. I know. It's just... sometimes it's nice not to know. She continues to be insolent, Father. Why do you allow her to insult us? The only insult is a son who's no more useful at bringing down a mule. It's time for a more persuasive message. [dogs barking] [in foreign language] Sorry, I don't speak Greek. Excuse me. It's a little early for a dance, huh? Look, I don't want any trouble. [gasps] - [grunting] - When a whore touches a prince, her hands are removed and her eyes plucked. You can have my money, just please let me go! Money? Money... I want something far more valuable. - [hisses] - [grunts] [in foreign language] Then I'll assume you received Father's message, - and I will see you soon. - [both hissing] [panting] [Amaltheo] Now you have no choice. [Juliet] Don't be so dramatic. She'll tell someone. [Juliet] Who's going to believe her? Someone. Anyone. Maybe no one in America, but here... there is far more history here. And far more hatred. I know the history. If I take someone's life, it's gonna be someone who deserves it. Besides, she's probably halfway back to America by now. [knock on door] Juliet? It's me, Farryn. You shouldn't have come back. You shouldn't have saved me. That's a mistake I can easily rectify. You're not safe here. I feel safe. What you feel is irrelevant. There's a gathering in two days. Cousin has your scent. You won't last a day. I would if you turned me. Go home. And if I don't? [Juliet] Why do you want to be turned? I think you know the answer. Life is too short, right? There's so many amazing things you want to experience. You make it sound so dreary. I'll let you in on a little secret, life always ends the same way, with humanity destroying anything beautiful. Maybe... but despite it all, there still is a lot of beauty left in the world. Didn't used to see it, but now I do. Let me guess, that's why you always carry your camera. I'm sorry you don't see it anymore. But as jaded as you pretend to be about the world, I think that deep down, you don't really want to believe it. Where you see beauty, I see life, plucked from earth and slowly wilting away. I've seen hundreds of thousands of people die. There was once a boy in Marseille... he couldn't have been more than thirteen years old. He was playing the flute at the front of a battle regiment during the French Revolution. He was proud to be serving his country, twiddling away at his instrument. So focused, as if any wrong note could somehow influence the outcome. That's when a cannonball tore through the lower half of his body. He was still alive when I found him. His insides were spilled on the dirt. His legs were shreds of meat. His stomach laid by his side, squirming as he cried. He did everything he could to hold onto his life, but what that little boy didn't understand, is that when you've lost so much of yourself there's no point in living. If you're so miserable why do you go on? We didn't come here to talk about me. No, we came here so you can dissuade me. And yet, here you still are. Living forever means you have to watch everyone you ever loved die. Better than them watching us die. Juliet, love, I can't keep increasing the dosage. It's strong enough to kill a... [Juliet] Have you ever lost anyone? Yeah, my mom. This ring was hers. She got so thin that one day it just slid off her finger. I promised her I'd hold onto it until she got better, but she knew that was as much a lie as I did. I watched her waste away for two full years... and lost two years of my life in the process. And you still think life is beautiful? I don't regret spending a single minute with her, but I don't want to waste another minute of this life. I've forgotten what it's like to have an expiration date. I mean, I will someday, it just seems too far to even imagine. I'm not immortal, I just age at a much slower rate. So... if you're not immortal, can you be... Killed? Fire, decapitation, dead blood. We've become what we are because our blood has mutated. Evolved. But there are negatives too. We lose our ability to see color, and well, our tastes, they're quite particular. Human blood. Yes, but I refuse to hunt, to take a human's life. Oh, so that's where Amaltheo comes in. He's like a traveling lunch box? I've had nurses like Amaltheo before, but he's the only one who never asked to be turned, so I kept him. I promise you I won't squander this gift. I'll write the next great concerto or... study medicine and finally find a... Let's not talk about the future. In a couple of days our lives will change forever. You claim to love living in the moment, if you only had two days, how would you like to spend them? [microphone feedback] Okay, so this is a song I wrote. It's my first time performing it, uh... it's my first time performing period, so, um... Okay, here it goes. Something or... nothing. I'll just sing now. Cover me in lace I'll bury my bones in this place Mark me with a touch Of your crimson lips on my face I've waited so long Now forever I will cry My heart is broken On this cold lonely night Take me with you, love Take me with you, love Take me with you, love The leaves turn to dust As a cold wind comes in Life is now taken Let winter Begin Take me with you, love Take me with you, love Oh, take me with you, love [guitar stops] [applause] [speaks foreign language] Bravo. Good stuff, good stuff. Not bad. Ehm, [speaks foreign language] Juliet. Juliet? Did I forget to mention that? Juliet? Uh, this way, Juliet. Ah... [speaks foreign language] Sorry. - Hey. - I did not agree to this. You asked me what I wanted to do if I had two days left. But the real question is, what would you do? - Not this. - No, you'd rather mope around and never do anything new. I've performed before. When? When I was eleven. So a thousand years ago? I'm not that old. [singing] Dolce amoroso fuoco Che 'l cor m'accende Ogn'hora Per te cara signora Dolce amoroso foco A questa donna ardente I. Prima tra la gente Serro sempre servente Dolce amoroso foco Che 'l cor m'accende Ogn'hora Per te cara Signora [applause] [laughing] You knew da Vinci? I modeled for him once. You modeled for da Vinci? He was actually one of the few humans I ever thought were fascinating. You slept with da Vinci?! [laughs] Um... [laughs] Relax, he had far different taste. But I won't lie, I did go for a rebellious streak once I got turned. How long of a streak? Mmm, a century or two. How many people have you slept with? [both chuckle] What are you doing? I'm sorry, I just thought you, me, the sunset... I have to go. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That's twice you've missed the sunset. I hope you're not starting to develop feelings for this girl. Of course not, it's just I pity her. Hmm. Don't forget, she's just a means to an end. What if I turn her? You said you would never do that. That's what you told me. And after a couple of days... You made a pledge to the man you loved. It is not the same thing. You want to share your body, your blood, your very existence with her, I don't see how it isn't. I've slept with other people before. But you never cared about them. This is so, ordinary. And you're extraordinary. That girl is not good enough for you, and certainly not for your family. Now you get to choose who is and isn't worthy? No. I don't get to choose anything. Never have. What's that supposed to mean? Nothing. Do whatever you think is best. I'll be here when you get hungry. Up kind of early, aren't you? I make it a point to never miss a sunrise or a sunset anymore. The colors are so vivid they almost don't seem real. I wouldn't know. Do you still remember any colors? I think so. I remember my eyes are dark brown. I remember how rosy cheeks got on pale skin after running in the garden. But I don't remember sunrise. Right around the sun it's bright yellow, then it fades to a bright orange, to a burnt orange, but when the orange hits the clouds, it immediately gets swallowed up by this bluish gray, and then fades into purple, right where that bird just flew by. And there's a streak of white... Centuries ago, I told someone the story of my heartbreak. He was an English writer, a womanizing drunk, with a tongue as sharp as a blade. I don't know why I told him. Or at least I like to think I don't. He took my story and published it, and made it one of the most famous love stories ever told. His name was William Shakespeare. Juliet? That's impossible. At the end of the play she... Killed myself. That part is true. Or at least I tried. Seems my flare for the dramatic was only superseded by my lack of knowledge of basic anatomy. I would have died eventually, more slowly and painfully than I had hoped. That's when he turned me. The one we call "Father". I hate him every single day for not leaving me to die in that tomb. And what about Romeo? After I was turned, I tried to find where he was buried. I looked everywhere, hoping to die by his side, but I never found him. I figured he must've been burnt with the victims of the plague. But it seems Father has finally found him. And the only way he will tell me where is if I complete my full transformation. You're going to keep your promise to die by his side, aren't you? [Juliet] This vile around my neck contains the exact same poison that took my beloveds life. Although I've grown immune to the poison, I drink it during sunset, to remember our love. But memories fade, and after all this time, the only ones I still have left are the ones on those pages, floating somewhere between real life and fantasy. Sometimes I wonder if our love was also... just made up. Maybe we were just stupid kids making terrible choices. I mean, at that age, who really knows? But your love was real. I can see it in the way you talk about him. Maybe... but if our love was real, and if it was "once in a lifetime"... then why am I having those exact same feelings now for someone else? I'm not trying to replace him. I know. Besides... Farryn and Juliet is an awful title for a book. [laughter] Ow! Are you okay? Yeah, are you okay? Of course, I'm okay. It's not like I see everyone as a talking filet mignon. [laughs] Go wash up. I'll be right back. [gasps] - You lied to me! - What are talking about? Why didn't you tell me? Your blood, I tasted it. Tell you what? [Grunts] Okay, okay, I'm sick. I don't have long. I know. That's why you didn't run. That's why you wanted me to turn you. What's the difference if I live six weeks or six... It makes all the difference. I can't change you. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Your blood, your immune system is fucked. Not only would you probably die, so would I. [Amaltheo] Oh babe, tell me what this vile bitch did to break your heart. She does not deserve your tears, or your pain. The love you and Romeo had was unlike anything this world has ever or will ever see again. Your love was once in a lifetime. Even your lifetime. Never forget how beautiful that was. And never forget your promise to do anything and everything within your power to be with him. In the end, everyone will get what they want. [knock on door] [door opens, shuts] What do you want? To apologize. To see you again. When my mom told us she had cancer everything changed. Not just her health, but the way people treated her, fluffing her pillows, asking her how she was feeling a hundred times a day. Everyone looking at her the way you're looking at me now. I haven't told anyone I have leukemia. Not even my dad. He thinks I'm at a conference in San Francisco. [chuckles] I didn't know turning me could kill you. Actually that's not true, I... Maybe I just didn't want to believe it, or you know, maybe deep down I just really didn't care, I don't know. All I know is that I wasn't ready to die. Clinging to life just like that little boy on the battlefield, huh? It's human nature. Yeah. But so is forgiveness. And then what? I'm supposed to say I love you back? And we will live happily ever after for a week before I watch you wither away and die? Then don't watch me die. You said we only had two days, right? I think we still have a few hours left. Let's make them count! And then you can go back to your tragic ending, and then I'll go back to mine. [door opens, shuts] Juliet? [birds chirping] Time's up. Then let's run away together. It doesn't matter if we have one month, or one week, or just one day. At least we'll be together for that time. What about Romeo? I once dreamt that when he died he was turned into stars, and put in the heavens above so everyone could admire his beauty. The setting sun was always a painful reminder of his loss. But now I realize he's not in some crypt, but up there, more brilliant than ever. And in some way I think he brought me to you. So that I could be happy once again. [gasps] [seagulls calling] [door creaks open, shuts] Ah, my darling Juliet. The brightness of your cheeks would shame the stars. Let her go. Her? Up 'til now it was just him and only him. How fickle the heart is. We got so much to catch up on. How rude of me, I haven't even offered you a drink yet. I don't want a drink. And yet you'll have one. Funny how leverage works. There's nothing like fresh young blood. I can't imagine feeding off the same withering old man like you have. I guess it would be like a dog... eating the same dry canned food... over and over again... day in, day out. I haven't seen your cheeks so flushed and alive since the day you turned. I remember these family reunions being far more impressive. Soon it will be just you and me, huh, Father? That's why I'm here isn't it? You can't turn people anymore. Maybe you're the one who should have stuck to canned food. - Father... - Enough! Did you really think that I was going to let you get away with that American girl? With my bloodline? Don't you know by now that you cannot keep secrets from me? That I got spies everywhere? [door creaks open] Ah, there it is, that human emotion you're so desperately trying to cling on to. Why? [Father] To have what you always seem to take for granted, a place by our side. All you had to do is what he wanted. What about what I wanted? You! It's always about you! I gave up my life for you, so you waste all the gifts you were given. I watched myself get old and wrinkled, for the aches and pains as I stitched my flabby skin together, day in and day out, while you stayed young and beautiful. And you never realize how lucky you are. And then, after all that, you leave me for her. You could have offered to turn me, but no, you had to be the same rebellious, selfish brat you've always been. I will never turn him. Him? [Chuckles] What would I do with a wrinkled old guy like him? Our agreement was for you to take a place by our side. And there you are. Now let's try some of that bitter old blood that Juliet loves so much. Bring her. [grunting] So this is the girl that melted the heart of ice. And this is the deadbeat dad who likes little children. [grunts] She's got your loving personality too, huh? Let's be clear, I don't love you. In fact, I don't even like you. But you carry my bloodline, and it's purer than any of these impotent half-breeds. That's what makes you special. I'm honored. Well, you should be! And if you were, none of this would be happening! In addition to that ring you're wearing on your finger, I got another souvenir. I remember ripping it from your tender young breast. It would be a shame if it were to find another. [grunts] Finally, we see eye to eye. You said you would never turn him, so I guess that leaves us with only one option. I have no reason to kill her. Her life's but a blink of an eye for me. When the transformation starts, your love for her is going to fade so quickly without me even lifting a finger, and that's far more satisfying. It's okay, agapi mou. No! Too slow, my little angel. [chuckles] How do you keep getting people to kill themselves for you? And how many more have to die? [grunts] She was willing to give her life for you. Are you willing to give me yours? [moaning] Not even a tear for your friend of 30 years? I see the transformation has already begun. Let her go! [chuckles] Of course, but permit me this one last moment to see pain and misery on my dear cousin's face. - [hissing] - No! [yelling] [grunting] What's happening? A dying girl? [grunting softly] You were in love with a dying girl? You were in love with a dying girl! [laughs, coughs] [grunts] Come on, let's get you out of here. [gasps] You're not going anywhere. You spent the last 800 years trying to make me less human, when that was the only thing keeping you alive. As my blood turns, I care less and less whether you live or die. To me, you're already dead... a withering, impotent man who I can crush like an ant. Your rein is over, and everyone knows it. Now if you or any of them follow me, I swear you'll get your wish and know just how dangerous I can truly be. Follow her, you fools! Kill her if we have to! Kill her... [coughs] I hate your family. [laughs] I can still make you laugh. That's cause you say the dumbest things ever. [grunts] It's beautiful, isn't it? The sun's so yellow it's almost white. [sobbing] I love you. I love you, Juliet, I love you. I love you too. [hisses]